{"product_id":"a-demonhaunted-land-witches-wonder-doctors-and-the-ghosts-of-the-past-in-postwwii-germany","title":"A DemonHaunted Land: Witches, Wonder Doctors, and the Ghosts of the Past in PostWWII Germany","description":"\u003cp\u003eA DemonHaunted Land is absorbing, gripping, and utterly fascinating... Beautifully written, without even a hint of jargon or pretension, it casts a significant and unexpected new light on the early phase of the Federal Republic of Germanys history. Blacks analysis of the copious, largely unknown archival sources on which the book is based is unfailingly subtle and intelligent.Richard J. Evans, The New RepublicIn the aftermath of World War II, a succession of mass supernatural events swept through wartorn Germany. A messianic faith healer rose to extraordinary fame, prayer groups performed exorcisms, and enormous crowds traveled to witness apparitions of the Virgin Mary. Most strikingly, scores of people accused their neighbors of witchcraft, and found themselves in turn hauled into court on charges of defamation, assault, and even murder. What linked these events, in the wake of an annihilationist war and the Holocaust, was a widespread preoccupation with evil.While many histories emphasize Germanys rapid transition from genocidal dictatorship to liberal democracy, A DemonHaunted Land places in full view the toxic mistrust, profound bitterness, and spiritual malaise that unfolded alongside the economic miracle. Drawing on previously unpublished archival materials, acclaimed historian Monica Black argues that the surge of supernatural obsessions stemmed from the unspoken guilt and shame of a nation remarkably silent about what was euphemistically called the most recent past. This shadow history irrevocably changes our view of postwar Germany, revealing the countrys fraught emotional life, deep moral disquiet, and the cost of trying to bury a horrific legacy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Metropolitan Books","offers":[{"title":"Black, Monica \/ hardcover","offer_id":47846762119413,"sku":"SONG1250225671","price":11.62,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/5804\/8501\/files\/A1WTFpu756L.jpg?v=1773841201","url":"https:\/\/ergodebooks.com\/products\/a-demonhaunted-land-witches-wonder-doctors-and-the-ghosts-of-the-past-in-postwwii-germany","provider":"Ergodebooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}